Vision rehabilitation assists in restoring glaucoma patients' quality of life

NEW ORLEANS — Training glaucoma patients to use their remaining vision more effectively can help them maintain their independence and self-esteem after visual loss, a glaucoma expert said here.

Eydie Miller-Ellis, MD, spoke about rehabilitation at the Glaucoma Subspecialty Day preceding the annual American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting. She said a physician's job is not only to lower glaucoma patients' IOP, but also to help them adapt to visual changes.

"Vision loss takes a toll on our patients," Dr. Miller-Ellis said. "They need low vision services to maximize function."

She recommended that physicians conduct "functional histories" of patients' visual abilities, to determine what areas of their lives have been most affected by visual loss and what assistance they require. The effect of visual loss on specific areas of their lives, including near vision tasks, distance vision tasks, mobility and communication skills should be established, Dr. Miller-Ellis said.

Those effects can then be addressed with low vision rehabilitation services, she said. The use of devices, such as talking clocks and appliances, signature guides and large print material, can help patients learn how to live with visual loss and continue to take part in every-day activities, she explained.

Even the most inconsequential change can greatly assist patients, Dr. Miller-Ellis said. For instance, the contrasting use of color — dark furniture coupled with light carpet or floors or light plates coupled with dark food — can make all the difference in a glaucoma patient's environmental adaptation for contrast sensitivity loss.